We share a common hobby and interest, Mike. I am honored that we eat of the same fruit of knowledge, in that aspect. You are so correct about that Mike. Even in the 19th century, the Filipino was already mastering European languages, thought, consciousness. While the Chinese, Japanese, Koreans etc were still engrossed in their reversed and backwards meta-physical philosophies.
If you read into Japanese nationalism in the early 20th century, the Privy Council of the Japanese Emperors would make reference to the Filipino Revolutionistas, and the 'Republican' virtues.
One thing that I have gained through reading Filipino history though is a growing distaste of Imperialism.
I have never had such a disdain towards a country as that of the United States, particularly its actions during the Philippine-American War, or how American historians aduaciously call it as 'The Philippine Insurrection". Internally, I am outraged because 1) The Philippines were never a colony of the United States prior to the Philippine-American War, hence there is no legitimacy and basis of the conflict being referred to as an 'Insurrection." The Filipino people during the late 19th century were a civilized, hispanified, westernized people that numbered in the Millions, specifically 8.5 million in number. That was 1/12th of the population of the United States at the time. The Filipino people were more advanced than say Dutch Malaya, French Indochina, Thailand, and China in terms of industry and economy---as it was completely 'Europeanized' in terms of municipality, government, and economy for the last 4 centuries. The the basis for American intervention was to 'Christianize' the 'heathen Filipinos'. Idiocy of the Imperialistic American government under McKinley was that over 95% of the Filipinos in the Philippines during the end of the Philippine Revolutionary War were christian, particularly of the Roman Catholic Church, the traditional and conservative church of Europe.
2) The other reason why I am seethed in this time period was the fact that Spain was coward. Totally and absolutely narcissistic in its actions. It was defeated in the battlefield by the Army of the Revolution under the command of Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, Gen. Del Pilar. The Philippine Revolutionary Army had a combined force of over 80,000 armed men (many were armed with bolos, yet there were divisions that were armed with rifles, and artillery). Every single province throughout the Philippines were captured by the Revolutionary forces and many of the Gobernadorcillos swore fealty and loyalty to the Republic of Malolos (1st Philippine Republic). And by democratic right, by military sovereignty, the nation was independent of the foreign power. Defeated out outright cornered the last Spanish bastion in Manila.
Had it not been for Dewey, who asked Aguinaldo to restrain the Philippine Revolutionary Army from storming Manila--those Spaniards would have been decimated by the Revolutionary Forces. Treacherous was the Spanish government that they, had the audacity, to 'sell' the Philippines over to the United States. Audacious. Erroneous.
How in all rights as a republic can the United States 'purchase' a foreign territory as massive as the Philippine Archipelago and a population that ran in the Millions. And yet claim that it was not a form of 'slavery'? Is not slavery--the act of buying a person, or group of persons vis-a-vis monetary gain?
Lastly, Spain had NO RIGHT to do so. It was defeated, its legitimacy in the Philippines were evaporated on the day that the Katipunan under Bonifacio ripped their citizenry papers and declared hostility against the Spanish forces.
The Philippines would have been a Great power had we not been raped and deprived of our history, our national sovereignty. I blame the United States for that. It was the United States, that destroyed the Revolution. It was America, and America alone, that was responsible for the deaths of over 2.5 million Filipinos during the Philippine-American War. 1/4 of the Philippine population was eradicated in that war. Filipino revolutionary intelligentsias were arrested and executed by the United States Colonial forces, far worse than what Spain ever did. The 80,000 man strong Philippine Revolutionary Army was completely and utterly decimated. From the bottom-up. Every officer, excluding Aguinaldo was executed, and every soldier was killed. Sparing those who surrendered or routed back to their homes.
The tale of Philippine Nationalism and Revolutionary History is glorious, and yet Pyrrhic. Yes, we defeated the Spaniards, but for a massive price. We tasted freedom for only a brief second, before the sharks came to take their fill. It is not fair, I say. It is not fair for our country to have been raped the way it was by the United States. It is not fair, it was un-American how the United States deprived our country the freedom that we wanted; the very freedom that they fought and bled for to achieve against the British in 1776.
That I cannot forget. And my heart aches for my Philippines to have suffered the way it did.
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